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ANALYSIS/COMMENTARY Canada ignores Muskrat Falls at its own peril

The Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project. — FILE PHOTO Hydroelectric project poses risks for the country that are being ignored RYAN CALDER “International news coverage wetland capping to reduce Indigenous rights supposedly SALTWIRE NETWORK VIA methylmercury risks. The enshrined in both Canadian and THECONVERSATION.COM has portrayed Muskrat Falls Nunatsiavut Government, international law. Notably, in representing the Labrador Inuit, June, the United Nations Special September saw the scheduled as part of a broader trend, in urged the provincial govern- Rapporteur on human rights flooding at the Muskrat Falls ment to act on the recommen- and hazardous substances com- hydroelectric facility in Labra- which Canadian hydroelectric dations. mented publicly on the “absence dor, with the first power from development is almost always The province, however, of meaningful consultation” the facility set to start this fall. stalled for more than a year, of Indigenous communities by The $12.7 billion provincial pursued at the expense of until declaring in 2019 that the Canadian governments regard- investment in green energy Indigenous populations. deadline had been “unintention- ing methylmercury impacts. has driven Newfoundland ally missed.” (The Innu Nation, and Labrador to the verge of This threatens the viability who were able to negotiate a LOOK TO QUÉBEC bankruptcy and made a global benefits sharing agreement in In Canada, the provinces are exhibition of Canada’s natural of Canadian hydropower, 2012, had opposed this advice, primarily responsible for ques- resource development. Too which depends on access describing it as “risky” and call- tions of environmental and often the impacts on Indigen- ing into question its cost-effect- human health. So, they need to ous Peoples are treated as after- to the U.S. export market.” iveness.) invest in developing a culture thoughts. What was the province’s of transparent, inclusive and The province has spent the decomposition of soil organic driven by the legacy of Churchill actual commitment to consul- scientifically substantiated en- past 10 years refusing to engage matter and production of Falls, a previous hydroelectric tation or indemnification? Was vironmental impact analysis. the Labrador Inuit over their methylmercury. Methylmercury project upstream of Muskrat it surprised by the advice of Québec is by far the leading credible concerns of health is a potent neurotoxin that that Falls. After the Churchill Falls the independent committee to producer of hydroelectricity in impacts from the hydroelectric can accumulate in local fish and project, fish methylmercury which it had appointed numer- Canada and has the most to lose project. It has ignored both the other aquatic species such as levels increased more than 10 ous Nalcor consultants? from reduced market access. available scientific evidence seals and birds. times above baseline levels at Historic confrontations with and the recommendations of an Prenatal exposure to methyl- their peak. These impacts were INTERNATIONAL Indigenous communities over independent committee it itself mercury is associated with a host observed more than 300 kilo- STANDING IN JEOPARDY hydroelectric development in created. of neurodevelopmental impacts, metres downstream and per- Roughly 10 per cent of the the 1970s led the province to Accusations that the province including ADHD and reduced sisted for more than 30 years. electricity generated by Canada overhaul its approach to en- of Newfoundland and Labrador IQ. Any increase in exposures, Nalcor, the provincial Crown is exported to the United States, vironmental assessment and misled the Labrador Inuit over even at low levels, increases corporation responsible for the driving a hydropower boom public engagement. its plans to mitigate the risk as- these risks. project, concedes that flooding north of the border. North- Today, decision-making at sociated with the hydroelectric All seafood consumers are is likely to increase methylmer- ern states have been counting Hydro-Québec, the crown cor- project have led to a wave of exposed to methylmercury. But cury levels in the reservoir and on Canadian hydropower to poration responsible for elec- protests. for most people, the benefits of river environment. However, it achieve their renewable energy trical generation and delivery, is Although there has been eating seafood exceed the risks. has maintained since 2009 that targets. However, the U.S. heavily influenced by independ- some Canadian media interest Indigenous communities face “there is no reasonable possibil- environmental lobby is increas- ent, project-specific committees in Muskrat Falls, the coverage high rates of food insecurity ity” of impact on Labrador Inuit, ingly hostile to importation that include scientists and In- has generally failed to address driven by high food prices and a position reaffirmed in 2016 of Canadian hydropower, fa- digenous representatives. More the systemic factors that enabled low opportunities for wage and again by the provincial gov- vouring stateside development broadly, institutions such as the the province to disregard the labour. They are often depend- ernment in 2019. of renewables such as wind. Bureau d’audiences publiques constitutional rights of Indigen- ent on access to (and trust in) For example, the North sur l’environnement seek to ous Peoples to consultation and traditional food sources for nu- RISKS TO INUIT American Megadams Resist- reconcile public opinion with consent. tritional sufficiency. Since 2012, I have been part ance, a New York-based advo- the scope of environmental International news coverage Hydroelectric development of an interdisciplinary team of cacy group, has drawn on the assessments and mitigation has portrayed Muskrat Falls as therefore forces affected com- researchers working to char- experience of Marjorie Flowers, measures. part of a broader trend, in which munities to choose between two acterize the risks of Muskrat an Inuk activist imprisoned for Conversely, Newfoundland Canadian hydroelectric develop- evils — higher methylmercury Falls to the Labrador Inuit. We her protest against Muskrat and Labrador has spent years ment is almost always pursued exposures or changes to the have described how northern Falls, to argue against hydro- hollowing out its civil service. It at the expense of Indigenous most nutritious part of their estuaries like Lake Melville are power imports from Québec. is now reliant on the advice of populations. This threatens the diets. vulnerable to changes in river Meanwhile, the Conservation consultants retained via short- viability of Canadian hydro- Renewable energy plan methylmercury inputs, how Law Foundation is setting the term contract to understand power, which depends on access The Muskrat Falls hydroelec- highly varied diets leave some stage for a legal challenge to the the likely impacts of its natural to the U.S. export market. tric facility was sanctioned in individuals likely to face ele- U.S. Department of Energy’s resource endeavours. Muskrat Falls seems to be 2012 as the cornerstone of the vated methylmercury exposures deference to Canadian environ- Québec has invested heavily changing American percep- Lower Churchill Project, an am- and how food consumption mental assessments in author- in creating and maintaining tions of the sustainability and bitious plan to provide renew- advisories are likely to deprive izing cross-border electrical scientific capacity and politically democratic legitimacy of Can- able energy to Atlantic Canada a food-insecure population of connections. Currently, the independent public institutions. adian hydropower imports and New England. access to nutritious, traditional DOE defers to Canada to evalu- This has had the net result of compared to other renewables. Throughout the design and food. ate impacts within its borders increasing the democratic legit- Muskrat Falls therefore jeopard- permitting process, the Lab- Sustained pressure in the on the premise that impacts are imacy of its economic projects. izes Canada’s economic welfare, rador Inuit raised concerns wake of these scientific findings assessed and reconciled within a Canada’s moral standing and in addition to its moral cred- over potential methylmercury led Newfoundland and Labrador democratic framework. economic survival may depend ibility. impacts: their land claim area to create in 2017 an independent There is however a real and on other provinces catching up. extends into Lake Melville, an committee to evaluate the evi- growing perception among MUSKRAT FALLS AND estuary about 50 kilometres dence on health risks of Muskrat international policy makers Ryan Calder is a postdoctoral METHYLMERCURY downstream from Muskrat Falls. that Canadian natural resources associate at Duke University. Flooding hydroelectric reser- Falls. In 2018, the committee voted are tainted by undemocratic This article first appeared voirs accelerates the microbial In part, these fears were in favour of soil removal and processes and disrespect of on theconversation.com.